Interactive stories

Interactive stories you play, not just read

A story where you decide what happens next. Choose from a few options or write your own move, see where it leads, and keep the path you took as a book.

Find a story

  1. Read a scene

    Each scene is a page or two, with a picture. You always know who is there and what is at stake.

  2. Decide

    Take one of the choices, or write what you would do. The next scene is written from your decision.

  3. Keep it, or share it

    Make your path a book. Readers can like it, comment, or take over from any scene and go their own way.

Stories to play now

Original worldThe Last Train Stops at TomorrowMysterious · ~8 minThe next station announcement gives tomorrow's date — and the passenger opposite is reading a newspaper with your photograph on the front. Play this story Original worldThe Woman Before Station FiveA late-night train · ~6 minOne phone. Four endings. Your dead brother asked you to give his phone to Sheila, and nobody else. Two stops early, a woman with short red hair says she’s Sheila. Play this story Original worldYour First Stadium ShowBackstage drama · ~8 minForty thousand people are chanting your name. The friend who wrote your biggest song with you is blocking the dressing room door. You have one night to mess everything up. Play this story Original worldThe Villain Has a Job OfferWitty fantasy · ~6 minThe kingdom's most feared villain offers you a job. Your first assignment: rescue the prince everyone believes she kidnapped. Play this story

What makes a story interactive

In an ordinary story the writer makes every decision. In an interactive story some of them are yours. The best ones give you choices that are both tempting and both cost something, so the decision feels like yours and the ending feels earned.

Interactive fiction has a long history, from text adventures like Colossal Cave Adventure and Zork to the choose-your-own-adventure books and the story games of the last decade. What is new here is that the story can follow a move nobody planned for: type it, and the next scene is written for it.

Two ways to play

Our own stories are written and drawn in advance, so every choice leads to a finished scene. Stories you start from your own idea are written by AI as you play, with the same rules: clear scenes, people who remember how you treated them, and an ending within about ten to fifteen scenes.

You can also play one story with someone else. In “Two of you” you each choose in secret, and the story makes both choices happen.

A library that grows

Every book a player publishes becomes a starting point. Read someone’s story, stop at the scene where you would have done something else, and take over from there. The original stays as it was; your version branches off it.

Questions

What is an interactive story?
A story where the reader makes some of the decisions. You read a scene, choose what happens next, and the story continues from your choice, so different readers reach different endings.
Do I need to download anything?
No. Everything runs in the browser, on a phone or a computer.
Can I play with a friend or partner?
Yes. “Two of you” lets two people play one story from their own phones: each of you chooses in secret and the story weaves both choices together.
Can other people read my story?
Only if you publish it. You choose who can read it: everyone, only people with the link, or only people you name.